“Festival Con Dios,” one of the largest touring Christian music festivals ever, will be making a stop in Iowa. In addition to headliners Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline and The Orange County Supertones, the festival will include eight other bands, nationally renowned speakers, skateboarding on a full-size half-pipe, wall climbing and other interactive games. Two “Festival Con Dios” bands, ska-rockers The Supertones and the relatively new girl-fronted Superchic[k], took time to answer some questions about the festival, the nature of MTV and the Christian music industry.

Superchic[k]

Bethany Kohoutek: Congratulations on your new record release, by the way. How has the response been to that so far?

Tricia Brock (lead vocalist): As far as in the areas we’ve played, which we haven’t played around a whole lot, it’s doing pretty well.

We’re getting a good response from stores saying that they’re selling a whole lot of them in a lot of areas. So we’re pretty excited about it.

BK: In your lyrics, you seem to address the fact that society’s pressures on women are becoming more and more dangerous. Can you talk about this a little more? Why is this important for you to address?

TB: We really believe that God created each person differently. He doesn’t want us all to look the same . . . We’re beautiful the way we are, because that’s how God wants us.

We’re unique and special and so it’s sad to me that things start to become – you know, if you don’t look just like the models who are airbrushed, have tons of makeup caked on them and the right lighting – that those expectations are so unfair.

You can’t beat that. It’s all fake. Even the people you think are real, they cut out stuff on their thighs in magazines, so girls have these unfair expectations of themselves and they’ll never meet them.

So our big thing is to put your focus on God and appearance doesn’t matter. Once you become complete in who you are in God, then all those things start to become smaller and smaller.

That creates your personality. And whether you look one way or another, people are going to love you for the way you treat them and for the kind of person you are.

BK: Is Superchic[k]’s message just for girls and women?

TB: No, I don’t think so at all. The message, a lot of people tend to think, because we’re called Superchic[k] and as far as “Barlow Girls,” that’s pretty much directed towards girls. But our message is general and it’s not anything towards a gender, I don’t think.

Really what we always say is that we are out there wanting to tell the kids that there is a difference. You grow up and kids can get thinking in their heads that Christianity is one way, and we’ve seen so many teens who are getting into trouble, and they’re telling us that it’s because there’s nothing to do, they’re bored.

And so what we’re encouraging is that we’re just normal kids, we did our CD in our basement. But we believe that through working hard, you can do anything to make a difference in the world.

God has given each person gifts that can change the world one person at a time, even if it’s just by being a friend to a lonely person.

And so our message isn’t soley just the girl thing or just self-esteem to girls, but find who you are in God and seek God in your life, especially at a young age. And what we encourage, we tell kids that we know he has amazing plans for every single person.

BK: Do you think there’s a shortage of good role models in the music industry for people to look up to today?

TB: I do as far as people that kids can relate to. There are a lot of amazing people in the industry, but I don’t think there are a lot that kids are connecting with.

That’s really what we hope to be. We hope to be people that are really real, and they can say, “You know what? I’m a lot like her. She doesn’t think she’s a rock star. She doesn’t put herself up on a pedestal. She’s just like me.”

That’s why we hang out with kids all day long after the festival. We go out in the crowd and watch other bands with the kids. What we’re noticing is that is making the hugest impact on them. We really don’t see ourselves any different than them. And that changes their opinion of us. It goes from like, that they’re fans, to we can hang out and be friends and talk.

We’re really trying to be personable and a band that they really do feel like they can come up and talk to and say, “Will you pray with me?” or “I’m struggling with this.”

BK: So are there a lot of times you find yourself talking with kids about their problems after the shows?

TB: Totally. And the more and more I find myself keeping my attitude right, the more I can see they’re willing to open up to me.

It’s been really cool. My favorite times are when I get to pray with people. They go away with this look in their eyes like something was changed in some way.

BK: What do you think makes Superchic[k]’s message different from the bands that a lot of high school and college kids are listening to today?

TB: Well, for one, I don’t think there is anyone out there so far that I’ve seen that has a message soley like what ours is.

I think also the fact that the six of us are such different people and we’ve come from such different backgrounds.

I feel like we’re validated to people in all different ways and so our message is sort of well rounded.

The fact that we have guys and girls, and guys and girls from different backgrounds sort of gives us different people who can connect with different kids. Like our bass player. He’s a skateboarder and he’s great with kids like that. Kids that were like him when he was younger. Kids that like to skateboard. Kids that have a certain personality. And I’m not so good with that crowd.

So I feel like we connect with different people, because we’re not all – we didn’t all grow up together, we didn’t always know each other.

God brought us together as a band, and it’s kind of cool how that all works out.

Supertones

Bethany Kohoutek: How has “Festival Con Dios” been going for you so far?

Dan Spencer (trumpet player): It’s been going really good. We’ve been having a great time out here on tour, just hanging out with all the bands and all the people coming out. It’s seriously been a great tour.

BK: You recorded your latest album, “Loud and Clear,” at the Village studio in Santa Monica, where renowned artists like Bob Dylan, Dr. Dre, and the Smashing Pumpkins have all recorded records. What was it like to record in such a legendary place?

DS: It was so fun. We felt like we didn’t deserve to be there, first of all. It was a great experience for us . . .

Just being in the studio we felt really privileged to be there.

BK: Your latest album was less ska-twinged and more modern rap-rock oriented than your previous releases. Why the shift?

DS: The shift was really just for us. We had kind of been listening to more rock n’ roll and Matt [Morginsky, lead vocalist] is definitely influenced by hip-hop and rap. The shift wasn’t to try to sell more records or anything, it really wasn’t. We wanted to produce a record that sounded the most like us live. So that was the reasoning behind the way we recorded it and just bumping up the guitar a little bit more.

BK: Ska shows are known for the crazy crowd, body surfing, etc. Does a lot of that go on at your shows?

DS: Yeah, totally. It gets pretty crazy sometimes. People definitely get hurt and we don’t like it when that happens.

BK: Why do you think there’s such a stigma attached to religiously-themed music when it comes to MTV and modern rock radio?

DS: I think they are afraid, honestly. They are so discriminating towards Christians, it’s ridiculous. I think they’re afraid of the religious right; I think they’re afraid of God . . . And instead of really trying to look for good music they’re just afraid of the name. And they’re discriminating more than anything else.

BK: So what’s your take on bands like P.O.D. who are trying to change all of that?

DS: Oh yeah, man, we are so proud of those guys. I know those guys personally, I know their hearts, and they are solid Christians.

You know, it’s funny. A couple of nights ago we were watching the Sixers-Lakers game and U2 came on during halftime. Bono got on stage with the microphone and said “I just want to thank God the Father Almighty. I want to thank him for all of his blessings and I want to thank him for salvation through Jesus.” I was just so blown away by that. He said that on national TV.

But back to P.O.D. Bands are standing up for what they believe in and bands like P.O.D., they’re really getting in there in a cool way.

You could go up to probably any non-Christian kid on the street who’s got a skateboard in his hand and ask him about P.O.D. and he’ll say, “Oh yeah, they’re a great band.” That’s so cool. That’s so cool to me.

BK: The band has said that the song “Escape from Reason,” from your new album is about people who try to use logic and reason to “explain away God.” How does this message fit into a university-type atmosphere where a high respect is put on logic and reason?

DS: The title is taken from Francis Schaeffer’s book, “Escape from Reason . . .”

As far as the academic world and that kind of thing, this song really relates to it. Because when Matt wrote these lyrics and when he read “Escape From Reason,” the book, he was basically writing about how when people try to use logic to disprove God, they’re actually undermining themselves because God is logical. God is reason. God does make sense in this world.

You take a look around, you look at creation, and you realize that this world could not have just been banged together. You look at people and the miracle of life and peoples’ emotions and attachments to certain things and other people and relationships, and you know people have souls.

We live in a very spiritual world and God is where that came from.